


Rattle the stars

by Welsper



Category: Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-20 14:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welsper/pseuds/Welsper
Summary: “A lifetime spent chasing some other man’s bounty, and here I am. With me very own.”





	Rattle the stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RomanticPrincess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanticPrincess/gifts).



“What say you ship out with us, lad?” Jim grinned as he felt Morph place itself upon his head as his very own captain’s hat.

“Silver and Hawkins, full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!”

“You know… when I got on this boat, I would have taken you up on that offer in a second...” Jim tickled Morph a little and the little blob turned back with a giggle. Silver watched him with that twinkle in those eyes of his, his old one and the cyborg one. No one had ever looked at Jim like that before. Like he actually was something special. Maybe his mother, when he had been younger. Captain Amelia had come around to him, he supposed. But was that something he actually wanted? Be like her? Maybe command his own vessel like her one day, under the Royal Navy.

“But I met this old cyborg, and he told me I could shape my own path. So that’s what I’m gonna do.”

He had thought about her offer, like he was thinking about Silver’s. But perhaps, deep down, he had known from the moment he stepped on the RLS _Legacy_ , after all. If he went back, to the academy, and his mother, when would he truly get to go on an adventure like this again? He’d miss Silver, too. More than he was really capable of putting into words. When Silver looked at him, and spoke of the great things he wished Jim would do… he could really see it. And he wanted Silver to be there. With him.

Jim jumped into the sloop. Morph squealed in delight when Silver followed him and they lowered the boat down.

“I want you there, with me, on my path. But if we go together,” Jim said as he unfurled the solar sails. “There’s gonna be some changes.”

“Anything you do could only be great,” Silver said with a bright smile. “Hold on a second, Jimbo,” he said before they left the Legacy behind. He threw something out of the boat. A few coins and jewels landed on the planks.

“Wouldn’t want your mother coming after me if I took her son away without leaving something in return now, would I?”

The Legacy was soon just as small as the far away stars. Jim felt a little bad about leaving without saying goodbye, but even with as big as the Etherium was, that was probably not the last he’d seen of them.

“I spend all my childhood idolizing Flint and that Treasure Planet of his… but I don’t wanna be like him. I don’t wanna be some terrorizing scum, stealing from terrified people,” Jim said as they sailed on the tail of a flock of space doves.

“You’ve got something about you, Jimbo. Something great. Forget Flint, they’ll be telling legends about Jim Hawkins for a long, long time. I just hope you’ll have a space in those stories for an old cyborg like me.”

“I wouldn’t go anywhere without you. Silver and Hawkins, remember? You’re not getting rid of me now that you stole me away.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Come on, Jimbo. Wanna show you something.”

Warm wind was playing with Jim’s hair as they sailed through the space. Jim sort of flopped over, onto Silver’s shoulder. He’d have missed this if he had stayed behind. They anchored far away, but still close enough to see a star dying, brightening up the Etherium, before its light would be lost forever.

“That’s the Eilífðin, been here long before you or me. Named by people that are long gone. And now, he‘s gonna join those who named it,“ Silver explained.

“ _Eternity_ , they called him, but nothing‘s truly ever eternal, eh?“

“Won’t the star turn into a black hole again?” Fear gripped Jim’s heart, but Silver put a soothing hand on his shoulder.

“Not this one… this one’s just an old man, laying down to rest.”

“I just… I wanna say I’m sorry, Jim. For all I’ve put you through. I nearly sacrificed you for me obsession,” Silver went on and pulled Jim closer. They watched the dying star glimmer and shine with the last of its strength.

“I was so obsessed with chasing old coins and jewels, I didn’t even see the treasure in front of me own eyes,” Silver said and reached out to cup Jim’s cheek in his large hand. Jim felt his heart skip a beat and his eyes widened.

“Silver…? What are you -” Jim was silenced by warm, gentle lips upon his own and by themselves, his eyes closed. He leaned into Silver’s embrace and his passionate kiss. They said time slowed down near the dying of stars, and Jim wondered if this one held onto life a little longer to give him this moment. He was very thankful to it.

“A lifetime spent chasing some other man’s bounty, and here I am. With me very own.”

“Hey, I’m not some _spoil_ ,” Jim protested, but only very slightly. He found himself not minding being Silver’s treasure.

“I came willingly.”

“Not regretting that yet, eh?”

“No. I’ve had enough of people deciding my life for me. I don’t want to be cooped up in some Academy classroom… I wanna fly! I wanna see what’s out there. With you, Silver.”

Jim thought for a moment, then turned to face Silver. The last light of the dying star was reflected off his metal parts. Jim wondered if he really was alright with losing Flint’s treasure like that. He had been fascinated with it too, but Silver? The cyborg had said it had been his life-long obsession, he had given half his body to it… and now it was all gone, save for a few pieces. With a smile, Jim buried himself into Silver’s side, wrapping his arms around him. As far as they reached, anyway. Silver gently patted his back.

“You got a first name, by the way? Silver doesn’t sound much like one,” Jim asked, leaning against the man’s strong shoulder.

“It’s John, lad. Been so long since I answered to that… must’a been from before you were born.” A darkness fell over Silver’s eyes and Jim turned to face him, worried.  
“You really are quite young, aren’t ya, Jimbo?”

Jim pulled a face at that and Silver laughed at him. Is that what he thought of him, that he was too young? Well, he’d show him. And he should have thought of that before he kissed Jim, because now he wasn’t going to let Silver go again. That was the feeling Jim didn’t understand before. And maybe he didn’t quite, yet. But he was very much willing to find out.

“Are ya alright then, with an old cyborg like me? Wouldn’t rather be with some other lad or lass near yer own age?”

“More than alright,” Jim promised. “I wouldn’t have anyone else.”

“Know how to charm a man, don’t ya?”

Jim snorted at that and boxed him in the shoulder.

“Have you gone soft after all?”

“Suppose I have, Jimbo. Suppose I have.”

They watched the last dying embers of the star vanish. Billions of years in the Etherium, and now it was gone, just like that. Jim promised himself he would remember it.

“Off we go then, lad,” Silver said and started up the sloop, unfolding the solar sails and running the motor.

“Where to?”

“Tortuga! You want a crew and a ship, for pirates, that’s the place to go.”

“ _Tortuga!_ ” Morph squealed, bouncing up and down excitedly on Jim’s head.

“Is it a planet?”

“You could say so!”

Tortuga was something special alright. Jim had never seen a more wretched place. If he had thought Silver’s old crew was bad, he could get a worse one three times over here.

“What I said, I meant it. I don’t want any homicidal spiders on the crew,” Jim warned him. If children would read about him one day, under the cover of their sheets before their mothers busted them, Jim didn’t want to be known for violence and cruelty. So he set out some rules for anyone willing to sail with them. No undue violence for the joy or sake of it. No murders. No hurting or stealing from those that couldn’t bear to lose anything. Silver laughed, but didn’t protest.

“This is Jim Hawkins, me first mate,” Silver introduced him at the first bar they went to, and Jim felt pride swelling in his chest. There hadn’t been a moment’s hesitation in the cyborg’s voice. First mate! He liked that a lot better than cabin boy.

“That whelp?”

“Watch yer tongue,” Silver snarled as he put his face right into the pirate’s, staring him into all three eyes. Jim put a hand on his cybernetic arm as he heard the whirring of blades.

“What did I say? Don’t make me go back and join the Navy after all, Silver,” Jim said.

“Some people be needing a stern talking to, lad.”

They found their crew, in the end. Jim had spend enough time on the Legacy to tell the bloodthirsty ones from the ones thirsty for adventure. Silver, with his years of experience as a pirate – _and_ with firsthand experience of what a murderous intent felt like in a person, had done the rest.

They were a ragged bunch, and so they right fit the ship Silver had bought for them. But Jim was looking at it with a glee in his eyes. He’d fix it up! It would be the best ship the Etherium had ever seen.

They named it Eternity.

\---

Silver had a map spread out in the captain’s quarters. It was made of paper and so positively ancient Jim was afraid it would crumble to dust if he so much as breathed on it. Paper maps? How long ago had that been? Completely without any holograms! Dr. Doppler would love that. Maybe he should send him a letter about this one day.

“A pirate’s grave they called it. _Davy Jones’ Locker_. It’s been forgotten for a long time… Folks say it’s guarded by a monster. No one’s ever come back to tell the tale.”

“Must be one old monster then,” Jim said as he carefully combed through the half-rubbed off map markers. “Think it’s still there? After all this time?”

“Be honest with you, Jimbo, I am not even sure Davy Jones’ Locker is still there. Those legends are old.”

“Where did you even get this map?” Jim sneezed as he unfolded another corner and dust flew up.

“Won it at a game of dice.”

Jim stared at him. Hard.

“I didn’t kill anyone for it! You know I don’t do that any more. ‘Cause you asked me so nicely.”

Silver scratched his chin.

“Might have roughed him up a little. Bastard deserved it, though. Kept making eyes at you. That’s one treasure I’ll never give up, not for anything in the world.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, Jimbo,” Silver said affectionately. “Makes a man feel good to fight for those he loves, though.”

“Sap,” Jim said, but made no effort to hide the fondness in his voice.

“If anyone can figure that old map, it’s you, Jimbo.”

They pored over that map together, trying to figure out what language it was in, and where the lines they could still read lead.

“It’s the Bermuda’s Tetrohedon!” Jim shouted out one night, excitedly. “Look!”

Stacks of papers flew, forgotten and disregarded as Jim arranged the map pieces all over the desk and the floor, wherever they would fit. Silver helped him keep them in place, watching him intently.

“We just follow that path, it’s gonna lead us right into the gateway to the Locker!”

“That kinda place… been hearing stories about it all me life, Jimbo. Forget the Locker, people don’t even come back from the Tetrohedon,” Silver pondered, scratching his stubbly skin.

“Don’t come back!” Morph offered helpfully.

“Are you scared, old man?”

“Just worried about little Morphy here,” Silver said with a chuckle.

“We’ll watch out for him then,” Jim said smiling.

“Let’s write our own story.”

The sound of cheers filled the ship when the sparkling sails unfolded, bathing the crew in their bright, blue light. It reflected of the stars and space, and bathed the desk in a shimmering shine, tunring it into a mirror. Jim thought back to that day, when Silver hadn’t left him behind and for the first time in his life, he had felt free, unburdened. That was the day Jim had fallen for him, utterly and forever. This was where he wanted to be forever, sailing with Silver and their crew, the winds of the Etherium blowing in their faces. No matter what awaited him in the Tetrohedon or in any other dark corner of any galaxy, Jim wasn’t alone anymore.

As long as Silver was by his side, he could do anything. And he would.


End file.
